5 Goals for 2008

Alright! My 5 goals for 2008 are

1 - Knit a sweater for me. I have started at least 5 sweaters in the past, but I always get bored and put it down and when I come back I don't remember where I was so to the frog pond it goes. This year I WILL knit a sweater for me!

2- Steeking. I am pretty terrified to cut my knitting. All that work could potentially unravel. ACK! Maybe the sweater for me will be stranded and then I'll steek it. Probably not. I think I'll start small with a doll sweater.

3 - This one is rather cliche, but I'm going to put it anyway. I need to lose at least 15lbs or I'm going to more than likely have to start on blood pressure medication. No thanks. The weight will come off. I've done it before. I just need to be healthier. So yeah, goal #3 is to be healthier and get more exercise.

4 - Go back to school. Even if it's for one class a week. I need to start planning on what I'm going to do once the kid in is full time school. I really don't want to go back to working the retail grind so I've gotta get some sort of certificate or summat. I have been bouncing back and forth between being an EMT and being a Nurse.

5 - Not spend money on silly things that won't get used and will end up in the giveaway pile or thrown out. That's a big waste. The husband and I are big impulse buyers and it wastes so much money. The goal this year is to pay off credit cards and start saving. I will go into a store with a list and stick to my list no matter what. When it comes to big ticket items (we're probably going to need a new TV soon and, of course, hubs wants to get a GIANT one) we will have to sit down and research and discuss for longer than a week before deciding to buy. I'm tired of looking at my bank account and thinking 'Where did all our money go?'. Time to fix that.

So there you go folks. JessN's 5 goals for 2008. Going to have to keep coming back to this list every month to remind myself of them and get going to getting them accomplished. I will leave you with a picture of my perfect Jaywalkers for my Sock It To Me Twice pal =) I'm going to have to mail them soon, otherwise they'll find their way to my feet and I'll have to make her something else. On the plus side, they're a bit too small so maybe I won't steal them...



I think I need to invest in a pair of sock blockers. I'll put it on the list!

I did it!

Re-cast on for sock #2 for the Vintage Sock Swap on Thursday and finished in the wee hours of Sunday morning. I really like the pattern (Child's French Sock). It knits up super fast and it's very easy to memorize. Now it's off to the post office for these fellows along with some other goodies for my pal.

I also managed to get a hold of the camera to take pictures of the Christmas yarn that the hubster got for me.
Cherry Tree Hill in Jewels and Gypsy Rose and Dream in Color Smooshy Sock in Ruby River. Soo in love with the Smooshy Sock.



These are the ones I got from The Sheeps Tale. Cherry Tree Hill Cherry Blossom, Wild Cherry, and Winterberry. Opal Neon somethingoranotherIdon'tremember.



And to round it all out I got some pretties from The Loopy Ewe. Cherry Tree Hill Sugar Maple (for Firestarter Socks) and the Claudia Handpainted in Sherbet is for my SITM2 pal. And that, my friends, is the last bit of yarn I'm allowed to order until at least Easter. I figured if I told myself 'No yarn for a year!' I would be stalking the Loopy Ewe for a sneakup or something very shortly. But 3 months is no big deal. If I can make it 3 months and I'm not on edge then I'll see if I can make it to my birthday.

Oh! In the mail on Saturday I got a package from Betty in Hawaii (Hi Betty!) with some beautiful blue multicolored millefiori glass bead stitch markers! My camera battery is currently dead so I can't take a picture, but they did come and they are super pretty and I can't wait to start using them. I guess I'd better get my heiney in gear and finish the last two sets for my pals to send out next week. Or maybe before the end of this week if I'm ambitious.

Haven't fallen off the face of the earth!

So sorry to my pals that have been trying to get to know me through my blog. December wasn't a very good month. Sick kid, sick me, doctors visits, hospital stay and now I can't drive a car or yawn, but I won't have gallbladder problems anymore!

Christmas was good though. Santa brought the kid an easel and fun stuff to go with it, she got some toys as well but I tried to keep it low key this year. She has a ton of toys as it is and is the only kid on both sides of the family so she is rather spoiled. The husband got his coveted PS3 and I got a Nintendo DS and some loverly sock yarn that the husband picked out all by his lonesome (I think I'll keep him).

I don't have pictures of the Christmas yarns (not sure where the camera is atm), but I do have a picture of the lovely things that my No-More-Hum-Drum Mittens swap pal, Melissa, sent me.



The new Cat Bordhi book, knitpicks harmony dpns and some beautiful pink Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn. I have no idea how she knew I wanted that book, knitter telepathy I guess. I can't wait to crack into that sucker and see what fun new things Cat Bordhi can teach me! I had been waiting for those needles too. Every time I went to order, they were out of stock. Melissa must have a quick clicky finger! I also finished my mittens for the swap. I did Matrix from the most recent Knitty and I think they turned out pretty well.




I wanted to keep them for myself >.> I need to work on stranding a bit more, but I think for beginning tries they don't look too bad. I figured out color dominance and holding both colors in one hand. I have also been knitting away on the socks for my SITM2 pal. I had been looking for orange yarn for my pals socks since I didn't have any in my stash (other than Halloween yarn and I wasn't too sure about that) so hubbo decided to stop off at the yarn store after work (woah! was my reaction too) and picked up a skein of Opal Rainforest 'Otto der Tanzer', which is the bird with blues and oranges and browns. I finished the first sock while in the hospital (kitchenered the toe while on morphine, that was a feat) and the second sock last night.



That's the best I can do picture-wise right now. They match up perfectly. I am so very happy with the way they turned out. I am a big fan of the Opal yarn now. I found The Sheeps Tale had some of theirs on sale for as low as $7.25 a skein. There went my 'knit from your stash' diet for 2008. I ended up with $55 worth of yarn in my cart (can't resist the siren song of Cherry Tree Hill) and the husband finished my order for me while I was getting the kid ready for bed (I think he wants something. He usually rolls his eyes at my yarnyness, but lately he has been supportive. Although he has been dropping hints and asides about needing new computer parts. I'll bet that's what this is about...)

I have been thinking about my knitting goals for 2008 and have decided that there are two things that I would really like to do. Start and finish a sweater for me, and try my hand at steeking. Not going to give myself a pile of resolutions or anything like that. I figure if I can knock out those two goals then I'll have had a pretty good year and anything else I learn will be icing on that cake. Mmm cake. For now I have to finish sock #2 for the Vintage Sock Swap and get that package ready to send out. Gotta get it done before Monday. Just can't get sidetracked by my Nintendo DS, the PS3 or my wee warlock on the Warcraft. Focus, Jess, focus!